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G20 leaders reach consensus early, softening language on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:33 GMT

NEW DELHI — Global economic leaders have agreed on a final declaration at the G20 summit, but the language surrounding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine — which is leading to geopolitical tensions — has softened since the leaders last met. The consensus statement from this year’s G20 summit in India was posted by India’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday, a day before the summit ends.It calls for the cessation of military destruction or other attacks on relevant infrastructure, as the violence is impacting food and energy security, and affecting supply chains. Gone is language used during last year’s G20 summit in Bali, where leaders directly called out Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and demanded its troops withdraw from the territory. Senior government officials in Canada said it took months to get the wording where it is, but they wouldn’t say what other countries had also pushed for stronger language.China and Russia, whose leaders both skippe...

Canadian filmmakers hope strike-addled TIFF fosters ‘hunger’ for indie features

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:33 GMT

TORONTO — Canadian filmmakers are hoping to draw some of the spotlight at a Toronto International Film Festival dimmed by Hollywood actor and writer strikes.Montreal-based writer-director Chloé Robichaud says she senses greater interest and attention in her francophone feature, “Days of Happiness,” than for films she’s brought to previous TIFFs.She thinks it’s due to the fact fewer Hollywood stars are in town to promote their upcoming films.Meanwhile, actor and producer Devery Jacobs says her queer cheerleading film “Backspot” has sold out all three of its screenings and she suspects the labour protests might have something to do with it.The Mohawk actor, who is a member of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, says she supports the strikes but is happy to be in Toronto to promote a project she helped produce and also stars in.Jacobs says this year’s festival feels different than previous years but sees it as a positive for sm...

Montreal councillor shaken after Morocco earthquake, as Canadians try to reach family

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:33 GMT

A Montreal city councillor in Marrakech, Morocco says he’s safe but shaken following a powerful earthquake Friday that killed more than 1,300people in the North African country.Serge Sasseville is in Morocco on vacation. He said he was just outside central Marrakech at the time of the quake.“People were drinking and eating and everybody was having fun, but suddenly … the nightmare began,” Sasseville said on the phone from his hotel room in the inland city. “I thought that somebody was making a joke and taking the carpet from under my seat because it was like the ground was swept from under my feet.”“It was absolutely incredible,” he added.He said he saw damaged buildings and people gathering in parks and school yards as he made his way back to his hotel downtown early Saturday morning. The neighbourhood around his hotel was not extensively damaged.The quake’s epicentre was about 70 kilometres southwest of Marrakech, according to ...

Most of West Maui will welcome back visitors next month under a new wildfire emergency proclamation

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:33 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — Most of West Maui will officially reopen to travelers Oct. 8 under a new wildfire emergency proclamation signed on Friday by Hawaii Gov. Josh Green. Nonessential travel to much of the island’s western coastline has been strongly discouraged since devastating wildfires killed at least 115 people in the historic town of Lahaina last month. State tourism officials initially urged travelers to stay away from Maui so residents and agencies could focus on emergency response efforts and supporting those displaced by the fires. In mid-August, officials began encouraging tourists to return to other parts of Maui, avoiding the burn zone and spending money to help the region recover. On Thursday, Green told a meeting of the state Council on Revenues that he expected authorities to reopen most of West Maui to travelers in October, with the exception of the fire-damaged neighborhoods. The area, which includes beach resorts in Kaanapali, north of historic Lahaina, has 11,000...

Artificial intelligence technology behind ChatGPT was built in Iowa – with a lot of water

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:33 GMT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The cost of building an artificial intelligence product like ChatGPT can be hard to measure. But one thing Microsoft-backed OpenAI needed for its technology was plenty of water, pulled from the watershed of the Raccoon and Des Moines rivers in central Iowa to cool a powerful supercomputer as it helped teach its AI systems how to mimic human writing.As they race to capitalize on a craze for generative AI, leading tech developers including Microsoft, OpenAI and Google have acknowledged that growing demand for their AI tools carries hefty costs, from expensive semiconductors to an increase in water consumption.But they’re often secretive about the specifics. Few people in Iowa knew about its status as a birthplace of OpenAI’s most advanced large language model, GPT-4, before a top Microsoft executive said in a speech it “was literally made next to cornfields west of Des Moines.”Building a large language model requires analyzing patterns across a huge trove...

Legal fight expected after New Mexico governor suspends the right to carry guns in public

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:33 GMT

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s emergency order suspending the right to carry firearms in public in and around Albuquerque will spur a legal fight but might also raise public awareness about gun violence, legal scholars and advocates said.“It’s going to be challenged. But she’s trying to move the debate,” Jessica Levinson, a law professor at Loyola Marymount’s Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said after Lujan Grisham announced Friday that she was temporarily suspending the right to carry firearms in her state’s largest city and surrounding Bernalillo County.The 30-day suspension, enacted as an emergency public health measure, applies in most public places, from city sidewalks to urban recreational parks.“No person, other than a law enforcement officer or licensed security officer, shall possess a firearm … either openly or concealed,” the governor’s order states.“Politically, a lot of people will react favorably,” Levinson predicted duri...

Fond du Lac County deputy rescues dog while battling apartment fire

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:33 GMT

FOND DU LAC COUNTY, Wis. — A deputy with the Fond du Lac County Sheriff's Office helped extinguish a fire and rescue a dog that was trapped in a burning apartment building in late August, according to Sheriff Ryan Waldschmidt.The sheriff's office says Deputy Jason Bruggink was on patrol on Thursday, Aug. 31, when he heard fire crews were being dispatched to a fire that broke out at a multi-unit apartment complex along Ledgewood Drive. Bruggink, who was nearby at the time, responded to the call and after arriving on scene, he entered the burning building and battled the blaze using his fire extinguisher. Authorities begin to remove plane after crash in Elk Grove Village Authorities say two other deputies then arrived on the scene and helped the residents get out of the building. After all of the apartment's residents were accounted for, Bruggink went back into the building to try and extinguish the fire that had spread into the attic, according to Sheriff Waldschmidt. During his se...

Kickin’ It with Kiz: Is Broncos coach Sean Payton itching to bench Russell Wilson? That’s nonsense.

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:33 GMT

During their playoff drought, the Broncos have had the worst offensive line in memory. They went through a basket of quarterbacks, because the O-line could not protect them, nor could the line open up running lanes. Pockets collapsed, lanes closed. Yardage was lost. The O-linemen have been pathetic. As for Russell Wilson, until the team’s front office repairs or replaces the O-line, DangeRuss will be playing at his own peril. What Wilson needs in an O-line, not a retirement plan.David, DurangoKiz: While you might’ve heard a goofy pundit (or two) speculate that coach Sean Payton is secretly itching for Wilson to fail, the conspiracy theory fails to recognize the Broncos’ recent commitment of nearly $140 million in contracts for linemen Mike McGlinchey and Ben Powers to protect the backside of DangeRuss.Until I see otherwise, Ol’ Russ seems to have lost a critical step, arm strength and field vision since his time in Seattle. Will the Brconos’ running game real...

Rams star wide receiver Cooper Kupp, tight end Hunter Long placed on injured reserve 

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:33 GMT

The Rams will start the 2023 season the same way they started the 2022 campaign: without Cooper Kupp. According to reports from NFL.com, Kupp will miss at least the first four games of the season with a hamstring injury.   Head coach Sean McVay said on Friday that Kupp and tight end Hunter Long (thigh) being placed on IR was a “definite possibility.” According to the team’s website, McVay said that the Super Bowl LVI MVP has been dealing with “some soft tissue stuff.”  COVID outbreak forces cancellation of high school football game Long sustained a thigh injury unrelated to the groin injury that kept him out for most of training camp and preseason. The Rams will travel to Seattle to take on the Seahawks in their opening game of the season, with kickoff scheduled for 1:25 p.m. Sunday afternoon. In addition to their matchup against the Seahawks, Kupp and Long will miss the Rams’ home opener against the San Francisco 49ers and two road games against the Cincinnati Bengals in Wee...

'It makes no sense': Mother finds twins suffocated in toy chest

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:39:33 GMT

A mom from Jacksonville, Florida is mourning after discovering her twins suffocated in a toy chest on Aug. 25.The mother, Sadie Myers, wrote in a Facebook post that her four-year-old twins, Aurora and Kellan Starr, went to play in the middle of the night and fell asleep inside their toy chest. Myers said that at some point while the twins were asleep, one of them must have moved or kicked the lid closed. COVID outbreak forces cancellation of high school football game The old wooden cedar toy chest is airtight when shut, and soundproof. Myers wrote that the twins slowly lost oxygen as their arms were wrapped around each other, snuggling. After Myers and her husband Don Starr, and their two older boys woke up, they checked the twins' room and immediately panicked.After searching the home and up the street, one of the boys found the twins in the toy chest.“Mommy I found them! They are so silly just sleeping in the toy box”, he had said.Upon discovering them, Myers wrote that she kne...